STEWARDING THE STORY:

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STEWARDING THE STORY

• A Spirituality
• for
• Archivists

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• Spirituality
• anything that
• reminds us
• that we are
• always in
• the presence
• of God.

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God is here.
God is here.
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• A way of perceiving the gift of Gods love
  amidst the mundane, the ordinary, the routine

• A way of recognizing that all is gift to be
  received

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• IMAGES of your ministry as archivists
• The deep STORY that you serve
• Some PRACTICES to remind you
• that God is here

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I. WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?

• Custodian?
• Keeper, collector, guardian?
• Cataloguer, organizer?

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Steward

• Every scribe who
• has been trained
• for the kingdom of heaven
• is like the head
• of a household
• who brings out
• of the storehouse
• both the new
• and the old.
• (Matt. 1352)

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Bridge
between past and present a taste for memory an
appetite for connections
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a taste for memory an appetite for connections
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Storyteller
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Stewards of the deep story
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2. THE WIDER STORY

• Gods dream for the world
• Told in the stories of Jesus parables

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Mirror
reflecting what God has done in through you
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Your story Gods story

• not static but growing
• not hidden and secret, but meant to be seen and
  heard
• not great in the eyes of the world, but
  far-reaching
• not limited and uniform, but multifaceted
• with a value that is worth digging for

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Keep the fire the story burning
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Your story as part of Gods unfolding story of
creation.
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How do you tell the story --

• for purposes of power?
• or in a spirit of reverence, respect, honor,
  gratitude?

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The story calls for

• a continual re-imagining of the future and
  re-interpretation of the past to give meaning to
  the present. (Mary Catherine Bateson)
• INTERPRETATION is key.

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Reinterpreting the past to give meaning to the
present
St. Pauls Chapel, NYC
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Saint Johns Bible
www.saintjohnsbible.org
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How might you

• bring forth treasures new and old to uncover the
  meaning of the present?
• draw from the Spirit-energies that gave birth to
  your congregation?
• set a context that reminds us that we are always
  in the presence of God?

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• These forty years your God has been with you
  you have not lacked a thing. (Deut. 27)
• I have been with you wherever you went. (2 Sam.
  79).

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To whom do we tell the story?

• To those who seek to integrate the history of
  women religious into the larger contexts of
  Catholic history, religious history, womens
  history, and American history. (Carol Coburn)

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into the larger contexts
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Life opens to more possibilities through new
patterns of connection. (Margaret Wheatley)
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Stewardly Practices

• Keep the bridge open

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Stewardly Practices

• Stay in touch with yourself.
• Support or teach others as often as you can.
• Nurture your ties to your tribe.
• - Dr. Andrew Weil

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Stewardly Practices

• Keep the mirror
• clean

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• Days pass when I forget the mystery. Problems
  insoluble and problems offering their own ignored
  solutions jostle for my attention they crowd its
  antechamber,
• along with a host of diversions,
• my courtiers, wearing their colored clothes
• cap and bells
• - Denise Levertov, Primary Wonder

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Stewardly Practices

• Know your
• place

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Stewardly Practices

• Be open to surprise

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You have a MESSAGE to tell in COMMUNITY with
others in SERVICE of a larger story, a
larger mission the mission of Jesus and the
ever-surprising Spirit
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Spirituality a web of relationships
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• There is no greater error than to imagine that
  the very employments God gives us shall force us
  to forget Him while we are engaged in them!.He
  is more within us than we are ourselves. (St.
  Elizabeth Ann Seton)

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Lose the lists!
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• All lists start where they halt, in
  intention.Only the love that is work completes
  them.
• (Marge Piercy,The Listmaker)

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The love that is work -- reminds you that God
is always present.